It's Cold Outside
by badly-knitted
Summary: It wasn't snowing when they arrived at Dee's apartment a few hours ago… Written for Prompt 509: The Ten Greatest Christmas Songs Of All Time at slashthedrabble, using 'Baby, It's Cold Outside'. Set after Vol. 7.


**Title:** It's Cold Outside

 **Author:** badly-knitted

 **Characters:** Ryo, Dee, Bikky.

 **Rating:** PG-13

 **Setting:** After Vol. 7.

 **Summary:** It wasn't snowing when they arrived at Dee's apartment a few hours ago…

 **Word Count:** 1452

 **Written For:** Prompt 509: The Ten Greatest Christmas Songs Of All Time at slashthedrabble, using 'Baby, It's Cold Outside'.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.

 **A/N:** This is the much longer version of the ficlet I posted to the community.

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Ryo knew he shouldn't have let Dee talk him into this, but they hadn't had any time together in a couple of weeks thanks to the flu epidemic that had put half the squad out sick. Honestly, he didn't know why flu shots weren't mandatory across the whole NYPD. He and Dee had gotten theirs back in October and aside from Ryo's mild case of the sniffles towards the end of November they'd both been fine, while over the last three weeks their colleagues had been dropping around them like flies.

With most of the squad finally well enough to be back at work though, Dee had been determined that he and Ryo should have a bit of alone time after their two weeks of abstinence and had persuaded Ryo to come back with him to his place for an hour or two before heading home. Not that he'd really needed all that much in the way of persuasion.

Only now everything was backfiring on them spectacularly; the bad winter weather that had been forecast had arrived hours earlier than expected. While it had been cold out when they'd arrived at Dee's apartment, which had been getting on for three hours ago thanks to the pair of them dozing off after round two, now there was a blizzard raging outside and a good eight inches of snow already on the ground. Visibility was down to a few feet and there was no guarantee that public transport would be running to schedule, if it was running at all.

"How did this happen?" Wrapped in Dee's bathrobe Ryo stared through the window in disbelief. "I know snow was forecast for later tonight and tomorrow morning, but…"

"You can't go out in that," Dee said, a note of finality in his voice. "You'd freeze to death!"

"I have to, Dee. I can't leave Bikky home alone all night!"

"He's sixteen, babe. He'll be fine, but you won't be if you try to get home in that. The snow must be practically knee deep, the busses won't be running until the plows can clear the roads, and good luck finding a cab."

"My car's right outside…"

"Yeah, under a foot of snow, and there's no way you'd be able to see well enough to drive anyway."

Ryo sighed heavily, unable to deny that. "You're right, it would be suicide to even try, but I can walk to the subway; it's only a few blocks."

"You'd have to be completely out of your mind to even consider that. If you did manage to reach the nearest station without gettin' lost in the blizzard the trains are gonna be so packed you could be waitin' on the platform in the cold for hours. Where's the sense in that? 'Sides, the last thing we need is for you to go down with pneumonia because you didn't have the sense to stay where it's warm. Just call the house ape, tell him you gave me a ride back to my place but the weather's too bad now for you to risk drivin' any further tonight. You wouldn't be lyin', it's the truth."

"I don't know…" Ryo chewed his lower lip, torn.

"D'you really think Bikky would want you puttin' yourself in danger by goin' out in that?"

Just as Ryo opened his mouth to respond his cell phone rang. Fumbling it from the pocket of his trousers, which were still lying on the bedroom floor where they'd been dropped earlier, he answered it, a surge of relief flooding through him as he heard Bikky's voice.

"Ryo? Are you okay? Where are you?"

"Hey, Biks. I'm fine, I'm at Dee's."

"Oh, thank God; I was worried you might be out in this. It's really comin' down; I'm glad I'm indoors. I mean, I like snow, but this is a bit too much."

"Are you at home?"

"Yeah, don't worry about me, I got back well before the snow started. I just saw on the news that school's cancelled for tomorrow. The city's practically at a standstill, so you should stay where you are tonight. Not even sure you'll be able to get to work in the morning."

Looking out at the thickly falling snow, Ryo was starting to have his doubts about that too. It would depend on whether the plows managed to clear the major roads and keep them clear.

"You might be right about that. Okay, I'll stay put, but I want you to promise you'll stay indoors too…"

"Are you kidding?" Bikky exploded. "You couldn't pay me enough to go out in that! Only place I'm going is next door to Melinda's. She's old; she shouldn't be alone on a night like this, just in case we lose power or anything. She's only just getting over her cold. Someone should be there to look out for her."

"You're a good boy, Bikky. I'm sure Melinda will appreciate your company, but don't forget to do your homework."

"I won't, it's already half done, I just got worried when the snow started coming down so heavily and you didn't come home. I had to make sure you were okay."

"I'm fine now that I know you are."

"Same here; it's scary how fast the weather changed, I didn't think it was supposed to snow until after midnight. I'll call you in the morning, or you can call me. Goodnight, Ryo."

"Goodnight, Bikky, and call me if you're worried about anything."

"I will, but I won't need to, I'll be alright. Bye." Bikky hung up.

Dee had been shamelessly listening in. "See? Didn't I say he'd be fine without ya?"

"You did."

"So it's settled, right? You're stayin' here tonight?"

"Looks that way. Maybe tomorrow too, if it keeps on like this." Ryo gestured towards the window and the thickly falling snow beyond.

"I can hope."

"Dee!" Ryo managed to sound both amused and scandalised at the same time.

"Hey, we just worked two weeks without a break, plus overtime most nights. We deserve a couple days off, and the weather's hardly our fault. Not like much in the way of work can be done in the middle of a blizzard anyway. Even criminals are gonna be stayin' home. They don't wanna get frostbite, or slip and break something, or get stranded, any more than anyone else does. Imagine tryin' to make a quick getaway in this!"

"I suppose you're right."

"Good. Now how about I make us some coffee, maybe slip a little whiskey in there?"

"Sounds good, but we should save that until after we eat. I don't know about you, but I'm starving."

"Now you mention it… Okay, food first." Dee pulled Ryo close and kissed him, pulled away grinning. "You taste delicious."

With a shake of his head, Ryo headed for the kitchen, belting his borrowed robe around him. The apartment was far warmer than outside but still a little chilly without clothes on. "That wasn't a euphemism for sex; I meant proper food."

"I know." Dee trailed along behind his lover; there'd be plenty of time for sex later and they both needed to eat.

Fifteen minutes later they were sitting in front of the TV, watching the news and eating bowls of steaming hot beef stew. Canned foods could come in handy when you needed something quick to prepare. Thankfully Dee's kitchen was well stocked these days; there'd be plenty of food even if the weather kept them trapped here for a week or more.

"Now that hits the spot." Dee set his empty dish aside. "Isn't this better than bein' out there battlin' your way through the snow, and freezin' your ass off?"

"Much better." If he was honest, Ryo hadn't liked the thought of trying to get home through a raging blizzard; he'd just felt guilty that he'd put his own desires above the welfare of his son, sneaking off to have sex with his boyfriend instead of being a responsible parent. Knowing that Bikky was going to be staying with Melinda took a weight off his mind.

And maybe Dee was right; they did deserve this, a little personal time after being overworked for the past couple of weeks. Nobody was likely to find out that they were sitting out the blizzard together, and even if they did, what did it really matter? It wasn't unusual for them to give each other a ride home, depending on which of them had driven to work. Everybody knew they were close friends as well as partners. Ryo almost hoped it would keep right on snowing for a day or two, but even if it didn't, at least they'd have tonight, keeping each other warm.

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The End


End file.
